Are sprouts really better for you than the beans, grains, etc. from which they are sprouted?

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First, it’s important to remember that many of the foods we eat begin their plant life as sprouts. When a seed “sprouts,” it goes through a set of processes that plant scientists call “germination.” Germination is the first step in the growth process of the plant. For many plants, this means a first look at the world above the soil as the seed coat cracks opens and sends a root or a leaf stalk poking upward out of the soil and into the open air.

Seeds are densely packed with many nutrients in order to survive. For example, they are high in fat because fat is the most efficient way for energy to be stored. Seeds are not, however, metabolically active, and they wait until sprouting to begin most of their metabolic activities. After cracking open and sending a leaf stalk (called a cotyledon) poking up out of the soil, for example, plants often increase their oxygen-related metabolism substantially. Important antioxidant nutrients, for example, are usually more concentrated at this point in the plant’s development than at any other time. Vitamin C, for example, is commonly higher during this sprouting stage than at any later time in the plant’s growth processes. Antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase (SOD) also become more plentiful during this time, although there remains a large debate about the value of this enzyme inside our digestive tract when raw sprouts are eaten.

There has recently been considerable media coverage on the benefits of broccoli sprouts. According to Paul Talalay, M.D., J.J. Abel Distinguished Service Professor of Pharmacology at John Hopkins University, three-day-old broccoli sprouts consistently contain 20 to 50 times the amount of chemoprotective compounds found in mature broccoli heads, and may offer a simple, dietary means of chemically reducing cancer risk.

However, not all sprouts are such nutritional superstars. In fact, according to the University of California at Berkeley Wellness Letter (School of Public Health) V 12, N 1, 10/95:

“Bean sprouts are a good low-calorie way to liven up your salad or sandwich but they’re no nutritional giants, particularly since portions are typically small. Even if you eat half a cup of mung bean sprouts, you’ll get only 7 mg of Vit C, about one-tenth the daily RDA, plus small amounts of iron and B vitamins. Alfalfa sprouts are the least nutritious.”

One benefit of sprouts is that they may be easier to digest. This may be because of some of the conversion of some starch into simple sugars that occurs with the sprouting process.

The warm moist conditions necessary to sprouts the seeds can provide an excellent environment for increasing bacterial growth. There have been several documented instances of Salmonella poisoning, for example, associated with the consumption of contaminated sprouts. The tips below may therefore be helpful to make sure that the sprouts you eat are safe: While cases of food-borne illness are few, and have usually been reported for alfalfa sprouts, we feel that the attention to detail in this area is a good way to be safe, rather than sorry: